The Gang
by Daydream1
Summary: Modern day fic involving newsies but no time travel. A group of friends try to survive high-school one day at a time. Humor. Friendships. Relationships.


Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the idea. I don't own the characters I'm borrowing them all from my friends except for one. And y'all guys, don't hate me for not updating TNMA over the holidays. I'll explain everything later, but don't be mad, I was didn't like what I wrote and I can do better so just give me a few days. I hope this'll make y'all happy until I update the other story. Sorry.

_Newsies Nowadays_

_Chapter 1: In Which The Boys Decide to Have a Sleepover_

"This is boring," Jewell sighed, resting a cheek in the palm of her right hand. She, Jack, Christin, Skittery, Emilyanne, David and Snitch, a small portion of The Gang, were sitting at the lunch table watching William Summers try to stick a nickel up his nose. Jewell wrinkled her nose. "Not to mention completely disgusting."

"Aw, c'mon Jewelly," Jack said, slinging an arm around the moody sophomore, "I know you've always wanted to see how much small change Will could fit in his nose." Jewell pointed her plastic fork at his Greek-god face.

"One, don't call me 'Jewelly', you know I _loathe_ that," she growled. Jack smirked and began poking at the cold lasagna his mom had packed him. "And two," Jewell continued imperiously, "how could I possibly want to know that!" Across the table, Will seemed oblivious to all that was being said about him and his unusually repulsive talent. He was completely absorbed in finding the perfect way to thrust the 7 centimeter nickel up his 5 centimeter nostril.

A little farther down the table, Snitch snaked his fork over to Emilyanne's plate and rapidly speared a good portion of her fries. He snickered to himself as he popped the greasy bits into his bottomless pit of mouth. Emilyanne lowered her eyebrows and gave him one of her rare, I'm-Plotting-Your-Death looks that she reserved for special occasions.

"You know, Snitch, I've been tallying up every single fry you've ever stolen from me since from when we were in kindergarten." Her tone was cool, calm, and calculated, almost like she was channeling the voice of a serial killer. Beside her, Skittery silently laughed as his girlfriend busted on his best friend. "I'm planning on giving you a totaled amount the day we graduate. You should plan on getting a job at McDonald's so you can get a discount since you are going to return to me every single fry you've ever _snitched_ from me." With that, she popped a remaining fry into her mouth and turned to Christin. "Are you going to the sleepover on Friday?"

Christin smiled and set down her slice of pizza. "Of course! I'm even bringing the popcorn."

"You always bring the popcorn," David commented offhandedly before taking a sip of his bottled water. A health nut, David always brought for lunch a handmade, all organic, hold-the-chemicals salad and a bottle of Lebleu water. He frowned at the looks everyone was giving him. "What? Erin tells me everything."

"Well, she needs to _stop_ telling you everything," Jewell said, taking a bite of her pizza.

"I don't think it's a bad thing," David snapped back, glaring at her. She narrowed her own eyes; Jewell never took any crap from anyone, especially not David Jacobs.

"You wouldn't."

"Hey, what do you do at all those sleepovers anyways?" Skittery asked, trying to divert a pending fight between the argumentative sophomores. David, once again, was quick to the answer.

"Nothing much, they just eat junk food and talk about us until about one in the morning. The next few hours are devoted to them fawning over some movie with Heath Ledger or Orlando Bloom in it and comparing us to them," he replied, still glowering at Jewell. Jack shook his head.

"You need a hobby, Dave. A good, exciting hobby that doesn't involve Erin," he advised, waving his fork demandingly. David was about to open his mouth until Jack snapped onto the end, "Or the debate team!"

"But I like Erin and the debate team," David muttered into his salad. Emilyanne reached over and patted his shoulder.

"We know you do, David, but we think it's time for you to, uh," she paused as she looked upward for an answer, "Expand your horizons. Yes, that's it," she gave his shoulder another good pat, "you need to expand your horizons."

"I don't want to 'expand my horizons'," David complained in a whiney voice. "I like my horizons the way they are." A sudden whoop of exaltation burst out of the successful William Summers, startling Snitch into choking on his chocolate milk. Jack pounded on his back until he finished his overly dramatic coughing fit. Meanwhile, Will was displaying the nickel lodged in his distorted nostril with the proud satisfaction of achievement. He got up and walked away from the table to go show the world his accomplishment. The rest of the group sighed with relief and went back to eating their lunch with their regular half-peace, half-argument atmosphere.

"Why do you girls have so many sleepovers, away ways?" Jack asked, turning to look expectantly at Christin. The brunette grinned.

"Because they're fun!" She laughed and dipped her pizza crust back into the garlic butter sauce.

"That can't be all," Skittery mumbled. "Nobody has fifty sleepovers a month just because they're 'fun'." Emilyanne smiled at him.

"We don't have fifty sleepovers a month, Skitts. We would never get any sleep, not to mention there's not fifty nights in a month," she explained. Skittery gave his plate a dark look.

"Sure seems like you have fifty." Emilyanne sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. She hoped Skittery wasn't slipping into 'Moody Mode', the all-to-accurate name that Lora had once used to describe Skittery's occasional melancholy funks. It had taken her forever to get him out of the last one.

"How do you have a sleepover?" Snitch suddenly asked. The girls stared at him then burst out laughing.

"What do you mean, how do you have a sleepover?" Jewell asked incredulously through her chuckles. Snitch shrugged, embarrassed at how they had reacted to his question.

"I dunno. I mean, I've never been to one," he said, diverting his eyes to the pool of ketchup in one of the sections of his plate. The girls smiles turned into frowns.

"You can't have never been to a sleepover before," Christin insisted. Snitch shrugged again. Emilyanne raised a hand to gesture into the air.

"Haven't you ever spent the night at somebody's house? Like Skittery's or Itey's?" she asked. Snitch nodded vigorously, his brown hair bouncing up and down. "There you go, that's a sleepover."

"Really? I just thought it was staying over at someone's house for the night," he said, looking accusingly at Skittery as if it was his fault that he didn't know this. "Aren't you supposed to do certain stuff to call it a sleepover?"

"No…why would you think that?" Christin asked, raising her dark brown eyebrows.

"You make it sound like a business meeting or something," Jewell snorted.

"I don't know!" Snitch exclaimed, a pout forming on his lips. "You girls always do certain things at all of your sleepovers, don't you? Wouldn't other sleepovers also have certain things you gotta do to call it a sleepover?" The girls exchanged confused looks while the boys all nodded in agreement to Snitch's logic.

"If I understand correctly, if you had a sleepover, you'd have to do 'certain things' that would make it a sleepover?" Jewell asked, trying to comprehend the idea Snitch had proposed. Snitch nodded sagely.

"Yep!" He stuffed his remaining French fries into his mouth. "'Cept I mumn't mnow bhot fey nar."

"English, if you don't mind," Emilyanne admonished. Snitch grinned and swallowed.

"Except I don't know what they are."

"Neither do we," Christin said, eyeing the grapes Jack was eating. With a teasing look, he popped another one into his mouth and waggled his eyebrows at her. Christin ignored him until he handed her a few of them.

"Maybe you could have a sleepover to see what your 'certain things' are," Emilyanne suggested as she put all her trash on her plate. It was close to the end of the twenty five minutes allotted for first lunch and everyone was packing up.

"You know," David said slowly, "that might be the craziest idea I've heard all day!" He laughed his high-pitched, sarcastic chuckle. "How can you have a sleepover to find out what the 'certain things' you're supposed to do at the sleepover? It wouldn't be a sleepover because you didn't do the 'certain things'!" Emilyanne scowled while Skittery glared at him.

"Shut up, David," he growled menacingly. David blinked and then became very interested in swirling around the dressing in the bottom of his bowl.

"Of course, crazy just might be the thing you need," he said without looking up. Emilyanne smiled at Skittery's protectiveness and David's quick back-down.

"Anyways!" Jewell said brightly as she looked at Snitch. "When are you going to have the sleepover?"

"What sleepover?" he replied absentmindedly. She stared at him until he figured it out. "Oh! Um, I dunno." He looked at Jack, Skittery and David. "When should we have the sleepover?"

"What do you mean 'we'?" asked Jack. He and Christin had finished off the rest of his grapes by now. Snitch grinned as he squashed his milk carton into a ball.

"Well, I can't have a sleepover all by myself so you have to come," he said in a very logical tone. Jack sighed. He might as well agree now before Snitch whined him into doing it. Snitch was a magnificent whiner.

"You decide whenever and we'll be there, okay?" Skittery and David gave him wide-eyed looks.

"Friday night! My house, seven o'clock! Tell every guy in The Gang!" Snitch exclaimed, completely enthused at the idea of having his sleepover. He looked at the girls again. "What all do you need at a sleepover, anyway?" The bell rang and they got up from the table. Skittery grabbed Emilyanne's plate before she could even reach for it, flashing her a debonair smile as he did so. She blushed and linked her arm through his as they walked to the door, leaving Christin and Jewell to answer Snitch's question alone.

"Well, you need food." Christin said thoughtfully.

"Tons of food." Jewell amended.

"Mountains of food!" Christin revised.

"Enough pizza and candy to feed an army!" exaggerated Jewell. The trio walked off, both of the girls chattering to Snitch about the gory details of sleepover supplies. Jack grinned at David.

"So, you how'd you do on that chemistry test?"


End file.
